


Amsing Gayle

by Silver5tar



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demons, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5869306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver5tar/pseuds/Silver5tar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the year 3548. The world has been overrun by spirits and demons, usurping the human race. Aki, an abnormal human boy tries to go about his everyday life, caring for his grandfather and keeping out of trouble. Trouble was dangerous. Trouble could get you killed. But when that exactly happens, he is saved by a stranger who unknowingly starts to change his entire course of life...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amsing Gayle

**Author's Note:**

> Appearently I suck at summaries. Also, English is not my main language. 
> 
> So I'm writing a book and this is the very first chapter.  
> I wanted to put it up here to see what people think of it so far, so please do tell me if you have anything to say! ^^  
> It Would be a lot of help! 
> 
> I know it needs lots more work but I really need some input.

__“From an early age on I was told that life is never easy. There is always something at the end of the path you choose that makes everything you’ve worked for pointless.__ __Because of those monsters._ _

____It makes you want to stop what you were doing. Stop being who you are. Stop trying to realize your dreams.____ ____To throw your life away. To stop living in any way that was possible._ _ _ _

______I’ve always thought of different ways to end my own life.”_ _ _ _ _ _

 

The place where our story begins, is neither a country nor a continent. It is just a kilometers large territory, invaded by its lonely but strong river and her two dear seas that made their way around and across.

I’ll take you to a small village, dozens of days away from the big city, tucked away in a harbor-like area that seems almost peaceful.

This is the village of Laviora, a small harbor-like town with roughly eighty inhabitants, half of them teenagers or small children. It has the name of being the quietest village of Terra, but unfortunately you can’t rule out the unwanted visits. It is a small settlement that had the shape of an intersection, and most houses are build out of wood and shale. The square would be in the center of the town and has access to four different directions, each street filled with houses or small fields. Many little side streets connect the four main ones to each other, forming a small maze to those that don’t call it their home.

Today would be the day that everything will begin. April eighteenth.

 

The old streets are silent. There are no people working on their lands, no children laughing, no sign of the usual buzz of the people doing their shopping at the square. Even the typical whistling tunes of birds remained absent, as the cruel sound of a beating echoed in a side street.

On the stone surface lies a boy, not much older than fifteen or sixteen. As he was kicked by a red-skinned demon, an old man stood to the side, his face emotionless. The man hissed to his younger friend beside him who winced with each kick that connected to the frail body of the teen.

The boy moved around to avoid any fatal kicks, but with no luck. How had he ended up in that situation? It was simple really, he had bumped into the Daemon. By accident. Apologies wouldn’t have changed anything to his current situation.

A kick to the abdomen made him cough up blood. Pleadingly, he looked up, searching for help that didn’t come. No one offered any assistance, some spectators even choosing to look for safety  inside their homes instead.

“Cowards” came the deep voice of the demon. He was furious, frustrated, wanting a fight to get rid of the boredom he felt.

The green of his eyes turned itself back to the teen, preparing for another brutal kick as he pulled his leg back.

Filthy raven black locks spread themselves on the ground as the boy tried to make himself as small as he possibly could. Deep brown eyes hid behind closed eyelids, waiting for another inevitable attack. One movement. That’s all it would take to reduce the distance between the leg and his body.

A sudden kick on the back of his knee stopped the demon from moving even an inch into his kicking attempt, and made him fall on the cobblestones with a groan. The sound echoed through the small and silent street.

Slowly but surprised did the boy open his eyes again. The first thing he saw was a pair of shoes that had seen their best days. As he began to make his way up, a pair of dark green pants and a brown T-shirt entered his line of sight. The stranger was tall. One of the tallest people he had ever seen in his short life. And his appearance was what made the last observers flee into their homes.

The boy flinched as a loud roar rebounded through the streets. In a matter of seconds, the creature stood right in front of the stranger, towering a good eight to ten centimeters above the already tall man.

“Arrogant, aren’t you?”

“What’s a measly little guy like you going to do about it?” Was his answer as the demon sized the boy up in his mind, wondering how much harm he could really do.

“I can always smash it in that ugly face of yours” He replied calmly.

It was the last straw. Bared teeth and a growl was the only answer the demon would give to the humiliating suggestion of the youth. He aimed to throw a punch, but was stopped midway by a much smaller hand. The momentum of the shock gave the boy a chance to move forward, grab the shoulder of his enemy and trip him with another stomp to the knee. The soil was honored with the body of the demon once again. It would turn out that the boy would be the winner of the fight.

But he didn’t stand a chance.

A kick to the left knee caused him to lose his balance. A fist to the jaw made him plummet to the ground.  And before he could even make an attempt to defend himself, the punches were already coming in, turning him completely defenseless. The boy could barely follow any of them as they rained down on his self-proclaimed savior.

Ages seemed to pass by before everything finally stopped. The demon paused a small moment and decided to give the male’s face one last brutal punch before he finally left.

The stranger was motionless. The boy tried to evaluate his condition, but the distance between them was too big to do so.

Nobody stepped outside their houses to give any assistance. So he decided that he was the only one who would be willing to help. His bruised ribs protested as he slowly picked himself off the ground. Stumbling, he walked to the other, taking another painful breath while observing the bloody and battered body. He grabbed the strangers arm and swung it around his neck, slowly but surely lifting him into a standing position and finally lifting him onto his back as his own body protested once more.

_God_ , he groaned. _What did this man eat?_ The stranger was skinny, but still weighing more than he could’ve imagined.

He slowly put a step forward, losing his balance for a small moment in the process, and making him set a step aside to avoid losing it completely as the added weight disturbed it. He took all the time he needed to get home, slowly putting each step in front of the other. Halfway he stumbled and dropped to the ground, the body weight of the stranger pressing all the air out of his lungs. Gasping for air he pushed him off, the latter cringing in pain as he fell with a dull sound next to the boy. Cursing all the possible words to the sky above him, he stood up again, the stranger on his back, continuing his way back home.

His home stood at the edge of the village, into the western street. It was nothing special, just in a better condition than most others. A little shack built of thick wooden beams, tied together with ropes that urgently needed a replacement, and a withered roof made of reed. As he looked the shack over, the teen mentally reminded himself to go look for replacements as soon as he was able to.

With relief he opened the rust-colored door, hinges creaking loudly as she opened. Inside it was just as big as the outside impression gave you. Little and dirty. The house only had two rooms.

Only silence ruled. Grandfather isn’t here, the boy thought with a smile. But even if he was, the latter wouldn’t care  if he had entered the house. Even less that he was bleeding or even brought a wounded stranger home. After all, the man didn’t even know who he was anymore.

The space he had entered didn’t contain more than a table, a dresser and a couple of chairs. Some thin mattresses were lying in the corner of the room, having the purpose of being beds. What did it matter? A place to sleep was a place to sleep. It was all the same.

The teenager carefully dodged the couple of chairs and dropped the weight of his savior on a mattress. He didn’t have medicines, but he remembered he did have Canelaenis - a flower known for its healing qualities-, lying around somewhere. Standing up he went to one of his drawers, taking out a small transparent jar that was barely half-filled. Out of another one, he fished out some rags and bandages. Turning around he quietly set it down and proceeded to take off the strangers bloodied shirt as gently as he possibly could, and made a mental note to throw it away at a later moment. With the help of some water and the rag, the boy set to his task of wiping the excess blood off the skin of the male. The wounds were carefully treated with the salve and wrapped up with bandages. Filthy and dusty, just like the rest of the house, but it was better than absolutely nothing.

On the moment he needed to take care of the man’s chest, he couldn’t hide the worried frown on his face.

_‘How did he get those?,_ he asked himself as he observed the countless scars before continuing his task. Taking care of the wounds took over an hour to fulfill. Lifting, turning, rubbing, wrapping. On and on.

As soon as the last wound was treated and wrapped, he let himself fall on his hard mattress. It called to him to sleep. His eyes closed the moment that sleep silenced his noisy thoughts.

 

It was soon apparent to him that he had no idea how to take care of people other than himself. The patient on the bed was an alien sight. Panting, red cheeks, forehead piping hot. With cold water and a rag he would do his best to nurse him, pushing the rag into the water, wringing it out and putting it on the man’s forehead. He could only hope it would bring down the fever.

Three days went by at a snail’s pace just like that. The stranger groaning in pain from bruised ribs and a steadily rising fever. Aki would undo the rags daily and gently clean the wounds. The stranger hissed strangely like a demon would every time, but showed no signs of awakening.

It went wrong on the fourth night. The fever kept rising until it became dangerous. Aki, being an unknowing and panicking teenager, drenched the man with lukewarm water.

It was the beginning of that certain night. The boy spend his time at the side of his patient. The white of his eyes was red and he was exhausted. Barely an hour ago, he had changed the bandages for fresher ones. It hadn’t kept the infections at bay. Of course it wouldn’t have with those, but  he had hoped the medicine would’ve helped more than it apparently did. Finally, in a last attempt to try and save the mans life, he had crushed the remaining flower parts and stirred it together with water into a small bowl. He had used too much of the water that they needed to survive until the wet season, but it was necessary. He gently tilted the head of the stranger upwards, dripping the watery broth onto dry, cracked lips.

And all what he could do apart from that, was wait.

The seventh night brought relief. The fever had finally dropped at the end of the evening. It rose a few more times, but never high enough to put its host into danger again. The questions that he had asked himself the first days, still haunted his thoughts, as he gently wiped the brunettes forehead from any sweat.

Why? Why did he protect him. Why him, a total stranger, when not even his fellow villagers wanted to. Who was he? What was his name? Where was he from. All questions that kept asking themselves again and again while remaining unanswered. The answers, they might never get, but the boy was willing to wait patiently just in case.

 

It was on the eight’ day that he decided to go into the village, despite the fact that he didn’t want to leave the stranger behind on his own. His fever had become more stable as night broke into dawn, but there was always a change of relapse. In the end, he grabbed his bag and decided to do a quick run so he would not be gone for too long.

The village was lively and busy. All kinds of tones from footsteps echoed inaudible over the streets big slate stones. As the teen tried to hastily make his way into a store, he was hugged from behind by a small figure.

“Aki! Good morning!” The voice was small and light, followed by giggling and the disappearance of the arms around his right leg. The teen, known as Aki now, turned around to find a little girl staring expectantly up at him.

“Hello Anne.” He said softly, squatting to look her straight into the eyes. She intensely stared back at him and seeing the big grin forming on her face, he couldn’t stop his own from forming. Aki stroked her long, blonde locks before turning to his bag and fishing a blue flower out of it.

“I have something for you, Anne.” Her face was a ray of sunshine as she took the flower from him and held it tightly in her tiny hands.

“Is it really for me? It’s so pretty!” She said full of wonder.

“Of course. A pretty flower belongs with a pretty little girl don’t you think? He smiled to her. Eventually he looked behind her, smile turning to a frown.

“You’re alone? Where is your father?”

“Daddy is at home!” She answered with another grin on her face, still admiring the flower. Aki almost wanted to rub his eyes out of irritation, but decided not to.

“Come on. You shouldn’t be here without him.” He held out his hand, which she took with a new pout so he could lead her into the direction of her home. De walk only lasted five minutes, and the shack with the green door came into sight. Knocking three times on the door was enough to make a young thirty-something old man with dusty brown hair and blue eyes, identical to those of his daughter, emerge. Anne abruptly let go of Aki’s hand and ran into the house.

“Hehe, apparently you found a little stray on the streets? I was wondering where she’d run off to.” He says with a smile.

Aki shook his head. “And the little stray isn’t happy to end her adventure this early.”

“I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it. It always makes my day when I see that grin on her face.”

“You want to come in for a bit? Anne will get over it. ”

Again the teenager refused with a shake if the head. “No, thank you. I’ll come by in the course of next week though. You know why.” Aki grinned mysteriously. “

Oh yeah! She’ll brighten up completely!” The man laughed cheerfully. “See you later, Aki!”

“Bye Pierre! Take care!” He called back while waving.

Aki smiled to himself as he walked into the direction of the store.

 

**April twenty-eight**

The world all around him slowly regained its colour as he became aware of all the pain that he felt. Blinking his eyes slowly against the dim yet harsh light, he realized that everything was unfamiliar. _How did I get here?_

Then the memory hit him.

“Goddammit” He whispered frustrated to himself, rubbing his eyes from any dirt that might’ve been there.

“Damn it! I lost!”

He startled from the sudden scream that went through the room and shot in an upright position, groaning as his body protested. He felt stiff and exhausted.

“What are you doing! They’re going to open up again if you do that!” Echoed a voice, not quite the same as the scream but definitely belonging to the same person, in a worried tone. Finally looking next to him, he noticed the boy. His voice is raw, a sign that he hadn’t been in his puberty for a very long time yet, which made Gayle conclude that this was definitely just a boy. The same boy he had wanted to save from the fate he was left to by his own people. _Did I scare him?_

But even while wondering about that, the stranger just couldn’t grasp why the teenager had the expression he had. That worried frown that was clearly seen on the latter’s young face.

A trap?, he thought as he searched for readable eyes. But there was only that same shade of worriedness, and a glimpse of anger.

Why would he be worried. He could understand the anger. It was the only thing that people felt to people like him, but the worry was new. Nobody tried to care about him unless they came from the same place.

The young lad intrigued him. After a long silence, the man finally found his voice back. “Who are you?”

The teenager smiled. “You do know its impolite to ask when you haven’t introduced yourself? You first.”

Rolling with his eyes the brunet looked at the other. “I’m Gayle. Gayle Amsing. May I have the honour of knowing yours as well?” He added sarcastically. He didn’t know why, but he felt he could relax around the lad. It stayed quiet as he watched the boy turn around to rummage in some drawers. “Aki.” He says in a silent tone. Aki then turned back to Gayle. He had a few bandages and a small tube of salve clenched in his hands. The distance to the mattress was bridged in a few big steps and he kneeled on the floor to change the bandages on Gayle’s left leg.

“Aki who?” Tried the man in an attempt to have a bit more conversation.

“Aki. Just…. Aki.” The boy murmured.

_An orphan_ , Gayle thought sadly. Already he knew why the boy had been left alone. It wasn’t unusual in these times that those that lost their parents at an early age, also lost the rights to their last name. He had met a lot of people like that in the city of his birth. It was as if everyone expected you wouldn’t hold on for that long anymore. It was a disgusting way of thinking.

Gayle hissed as the salve was spread on one of his worse open wounds, followed by a soft apology.

“Where is this place?” He asked, suddenly remembering he didn’t have any idea of where he was. He had tried to find the camp after finishing his mission, and already had traveled around on this world for several months.

“Laviora. You were unconscious for ten days.” His voice was neutral.

_Eight days_ , Gayle thought in wonder.

Perplexed he stared at nothing in particular. He was in the calmest village of the planet? The village that was known for its meager attacks and territory that went over several kilometers? Gayle cursed as he thought about how many days it would take to just get out of this place, not even counting those he would need to get back where he needed to be.

He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, thinking about all his possibilities.

_Baku should be do-able in a week. Then another three till I reach Minora, and then we can start thinking about getting home…._ “Aahh, no, that should be four….” He murmured softly. Aki looked up from the arm he was busy wrapping, but asked nothing as he could see that the man was deep in thought.

Why is my sense of direction so bad? He sighed once more as the negative thoughts kept running through his thoughts.

When Aki looked up from his task, he frowned as he noticed that Gayle was still thinking. If he had to be honest, Aki hadn’t had thought Gayle was a person that thought much about his actions. He was a fighter, not a thinker. Just like eight days ago.

With all the facial expressions that seemed to change every few seconds, it was as if he was fighting a heavy mental battle with himself.

Crazy, that was he.  And once again he asked the question of who this man truly was. Who was he, the person that just went head on with a demon in the hope that he could win? It made him think about the Cythra, the idiots that risked their lives every day for something that, according to him, would never be able to be changed.

Had Gayle really though that he could win?

A sudden movement was noticed out of the corner of his eyes, and his stream of thoughts were disrupted. Realizing that Gayle tried to stand up, the teenager reacted immediately.

“Are you crazy? Your wounds….”

“No, I have to leave.” He interrupted with a conclusive tone.

A fierce gaze was all he got from Aki before  he tried to push Gayle back down on the matrass. The elder male just pushed him aside and hobbled in the direction of the door.

Aki pushed himself upright as fast as he could and tried to stop to other male once again. It was impossible for such serious wounds to heal in such little time.

“Why so hasty?”

“I have no reason to stay here any longer.”

Aki ignored the slight sting those words gave and let it get overwhelmed by anger. He hadn’t even gotten a thank you! Wasn’t he the reason that Gayle hadn’t bled to dead in the middle of the streets? For all he knew the demon might’ve come back and finished the job!

“At least let you’re your wounds heal a bit more?” He tried one last time, his anger temporarily forgotten, but he clearly knew the answer already. Sighing he walked towards one of the chairs and sat down. The creaking of the door was the only thing that could be heard in the quiet room.

The door slammed shut and the stranger named Gayle was gone. 

 

**April twenty-nine, around half past nine.**

He was angry, furious even! He had woken up this morning with nothing but anger and he couldn’t stop the negative thoughts from overwhelming him. Aki paced back and forth in the small room, wondering over and over again why he had bothered to save the unthankful guy. He would’ve been better off letting him be to did on the streets!

He clenched his fists and took another deep breath before letting himself fall into one of the chairs again, muttering to himself.

_I really shouldn’t let it get to me…._ He stared at the ugly yellowish ceiling. He was actually happy that he had saved the man, but the standoffish way Gayle had went and left irked him more than it should’ve.

Why did he care again?

Grandfather had only looked up from his plate for a moment to watch Aki’s angry tirade, before resuming to ignore him. Said plate didn’t have much on it. Especially not in this season. The wet season had passed for quite a few months already, and whatever they had managed to grow was slowly diminishing. They did have cows and goats and sheep, but the grass they could eat was barely enough to keep themselves and their young alive, which made milk a very rare ingredient to have. Their bodies also didn’t offer that much meat either. It was enough for the villagers to survive, but it never lasted long periods of time.

All in all, their meals were never as lavish as it once had been in the capital. They did expect an Arantor trading caravan a couple of weeks ago, but they still hadn’t turned up. Aki didn’t know why, but he supposed the village could survive for at least another month on everything they had for now. And when Aki couldn’t manage to take care of his grandfather, the village would. But only for his grandfather. Whatever happened to him, they wouldn’t care about it.

He was the outcast, after all.

The skinny boy that couldn’t stand to eat and swallow meat, before having the urge to throw up. The boy that looked like an average lad that was a bit skinnier and a lot paler than his age-mates, which made him stand out even more.

He didn’t really have any friends between the youngsters. Actually he didn’t have friends in any age groups because of the fact that nobody seemed to deem him worthy of any attention.

_Except Anne. Anne and her father._

Aki’s thought went from Anne to Gayle again. The brunette had seemed like a sympathising person, before he went and behaved like an asshole. He was healthier, stronger and heavier than most other people.

The amount of sighs that he had given remained uncounted. Grandfather had finally opened his mouth, probably to say that Aki had to shut up, before an explosion aggressively interrupted his sentence of words.

The house was trilling on its delicate foundations. _What is going on?_ , thought Aki, hands trembling from fright. In a panic he ran outside, a scream blaring through the streets as soon as he set a step outside the door.

On the pavement of his door lay the body of a child, blemished with cuts and clothes drenched in a red liquid. Blood. Fresh, as the metal scent was inhaled by his hurried inhalation.

Aki didn’t recognize the child immediately, but then there was that one detail that turned his heart to stone. In soft golden strands of hair, colour almost invisible through the many blood splatters, sat an iris blue flower, the stem tucked away behind a delicate ear. An ear that will never hear again.

It was Anne. Anne who would’ve turned six next week. He couldn’t believe it even though he was staring at her lifeless body right in front of him.

Pierre… what would Pierre think! He had lost his wife during childbirth, and now his only excuse to live on this planet had vanished as well. Would he think Aki had murdered her? Would he give him time to explain, or would the guilt be shoved on him nonetheless. He was after all just Aki, the loner. Somebody nobody wanted around or even talk to.

But at the moment, even though the thoughts plagued him, he let himself get taken over by grief. Tears rolled over his cheeks as he was broken by the pain of his loss.

Razor-sharp knifes that drilled themselves through the flesh of his back was the last thing he remembered.

 

“What got into me!” Gayle screamed to himself. The kid had saved his life without asking anything in return and what had he done? Run away without showing any form of respect! He was such an asshole!

He had wanted to hit his head against a wall after he had left the home. Aki was right. He was in no way able to defend himself. Why was he so stubborn again?

The boss would forgive you if you were just an itty bitty late with the report.” He tells himself. “I can go back, apologize, maybe stay a little. There was nothing wrong with that, right?”

Ah, who was he trying to kid. The boss never really tolerated that sort of stuff. Especially not after a mission. And he was late, very late.

Gayle thought back to yesterday, when he had gone looking for a place to stay. It wasn’t easy. All lodges had shut their doors in front of his nose as soon as he saw even a hair of him. A few hours later he had stranded in  a street where one was still open. A small lodge in the middle of the street, the owner of it standing outside. The man made attempts to grab the handle of the big wooden door and slam it shut behind him.

“Hey! Wait a minute!” he yelled at the man.

“What do you want?” he says surly.

“Do you have a room? I’m looking for a place to spend the night.” Hoping this man would accept him, he let the red-haired man scrutinize him slowly. Gayle knew he looked like a vagrant with his wrinkled, torn clothes and tousled hair. His arm and legs were covered in the bandages that Aki had gently wrapped him up with earlier.

“I have money.” He added.

“It will cost you. It’s already late.” The man says after a long silence.

_Already late_ , Gayle snarled internally. _The sun barely went down. Greedy bastard._  

He, however, couldn’t refuse. He was exhausted and in pain. The chief and Janiya would just have to strangle him later because their amount of money was already meagre, but he hadn’t cared at that moment.

That was yesterday. Now he was walking through the streets in the middle of the village, looking for the exit. For the moment he had left his bag behind because he had planned to search for Aki’s house as well, and actually say goodbye in a more mannered way.

That was the plan before he got lost into one of the small alleys and paid the price for leaving the main streets. The sun stood high in the skies. It was a bit after midday, the hottest moment of the day. Sweat trickled down his forehead.

The village was like a ghost town. The desolate streets gave him space to resume his trip through the village. Everyone appeared to be inside their homes, watching him as if he was a monster that thought of them as his next victims.

A last glance from behind a window.

A door that slammed shut.

And then the explosion that resounded through the empty streets and made him jolt out of his thoughts. Immediately he knew it wasn’t one of them. Because of a certain someone’s influence, the explosion would’ve been bigger due to the use of an exceptional lot of dynamite. The black cloud of smoke that smelled of sulphur slowly raised itself into the air, flowing away with the northern wind.

Despite the smell, Gayle followed it into the direction it came from. It was impossible to stray from the path because as he came even closer to his target, the stronger the scent became. Then another scent mixed itself into the air as it reached his sensitive nose before he pinched it from the stench. The metal scent of fresh blood.

Gayle hastened his pace and stepped abruptly as he reached the edge of the village. The ground was littered with uncountable lifeless bodies. _Aki_ , was the first thing that reached his thoughts. What if he lied between all these corpses as well?

On his way to Aki’s tiny house he realized exactly what it was that had caused all this. There was no doubt about it. The sulphur, the explosions, an Asgor had brought chaos down onto this village. Despicable creatures that used their explosions to chase their prey, humans in this case, out of their houses only to mercilessly attack.

Gayle’s heart beat faster In his chest -partly from stress, partly from the exertion-  when he reached his destination. His fear had become truth. Aki was lying on the ground, next to the body of a child, a monster above him. Growling and almost mental from bloodlust.

Aki’s arm had moved before lying still, probably signing either his death or unconsciousness, but Gayle wouldn’t let the monster reach out towards his meal if he could help it.

With a growl and glowing eyes he had attacked the monster directly. Claws barely missed the face of the teenager as it dodged Gayle with a snarl. It was fast and deadly. It wasn’t long before a claw tore through the flesh of his right shoulder. Gayle let out a yell, but took the change to lure the monster away, a hand on the shoulder to staunch the flowing blood, his eyes lighting up even more.

The monster was strong. But so was he. He hadn’t been in a good condition lately, exhaustion and hunger making him weak, and that was why he had lost to the first monster, but he wasn’t exactly in a good condition now either. He didn’t stand at a chance like this. Not when he was hurt. And not when he still wore them.

It was decided in a sudden notion.

They had to go.

 

Aki hadn’t completely lost consciousness, but he was dazed and unable to move as a consequence of the sharp claws tearing into his back. And then he could only watch as he finally saw wild, hungry eyes and quickly nearing claws before he dodged a violent punch that appeared to have come from someone else. He couldn’t make out who, but despite his cloudy sight he was able to tell that Anne’s murderer was the stronger one in the fight. As the bone-chilling yell echoed in the air, Aki realized that it was Gayle. The slower, weaker, only human one of the two.

With as much as he could see, it had seemed that Gayle had seized any attempts of attacking and only dodged. Was it because of the injury he probably received? Was it because he realized he was the weaker one? As usual Aki didn’t know what went through Gayle’s head, but the hoped that for once he had a plan.

 

Gayle kept reaching out to his wrists as he tried his best to avoid the fast and forceful attacks. Black, fingerless gloves, that seemed to have a pattern of small, almost unnoticeable chains all around decorated his hands. Small locks were crushed in a strong grip. Soundlessly they fell to the ground. The moment he wanted to pull one off, the demon attacked once more with a kick. Gayle jumped back but hadn’t seen the other attack coming which made him fly a couple of meters backwards. But the monster hadn’t realized what the distance made Gayle able to do. He had just enough time to pull one of the gloves off and narrowly almost dodge a big set of claws not a moment later. The cut on his cheek was deep as the blood flowed down and trickled from his chin. Gayle set his teeth in the other glove, pulled them off with a jerk and threw them on the ground.

The Asgor stopped dead in its tracks as it resized Gayle. And as the latter’s scent reached his nostrils, the monster could only say one thing. “You are…”

“This time I will end it” Gayle was calm, murder mirroring in his now almost golden glowing eyes. A styptic scream and the demon attacked again. But this time, it was Gayle that disappeared from sight, reappearing behind the Asgor. The fight didn’t take long. It was as if Gayle had started to play a game and had already gotten bored. With one flowing movement it was as if his hand went through the shoulder of the demon like a knife.

The blood splattered around both parties.

Gayle didn’t care at all. On the contrary, he had a grin on his face as he went on. The other shoulder, left leg, right leg. A lump of meat and the head was all that remained. And still the monster was alive. Gayle ended the pathetic life of the demon by separating the head from the rest of the body and crushing it ruthlessly beneath his feet. As he finally turned around and looked straight at Aki, he forced himself to calm down.

“Shit…”

 

Aki’s sight had improved a bit, which made him realize that both were taking each other in. He had heard a rasping noise that almost sounded like voice, but he couldn’t really recognize it. Then Gayle’s voice had interrupted, a last few screams had sounded, and then nothing anymore. Just the sound of light footsteps hurriedly making their way towards him and finally a gentle touch on his cheek.

“Aki?” Gayle said worriedly. He got no answer. Aki couldn’t answer. His voice was stuck in his throat from the fear he had felt and the pain he was still feeling. He was as limp as a toy doll when Gayle picked him up from the bloody ground and carried him into the house. And when he felt the familiarity of his mattress, Aki traded all senses for total darkness.

 

**First of May**

Pain was all Aki could feel as he woke. He hadn’t felt this bad after taking the kicks of the monster, but it appeared that taking claws to his back did indeed hurt a lot more. As soon as he could make a bit more sense of his surroundings, Gayle had already come to his side.

“Be careful if you sit up.”

Aki looked at him. Gayle had come back for him. For a total stranger. And he had stayed to take care of his wounds.

“The wounds weren’t too deep.” Gayle resumed. “You were pretty lucky, but it was enough to render you out cold in the end. You can move if you feel up to it, but it should be a couple of days before it’ll be comfortable though. I found some of that salve stuff on the cabinet, so I used it on your back.” Aki gingerly fingered the bandages that surrounded his torso, deciding to just keep on laying down as he looked up at Gayle. 

He nodded gently at the older, showing his thanks. The small headache that was coming up didn’t do him justice. But he willed the small pain away as he made straight eye contact with the other.

“What was that? Vampire?” Aki asked, his voice a whisper.

“Nono.” Gayle had an amused smile on his face, but then continued in all seriousness. “They’re Asgors. They’re pretty comparable with vampires, but they aren’t. Vampires are annoying. But they prefer to hunt at night because it’s easier for them to hunt prey. Asgors hunt at any time, attacking with explosives, stench and claws. If I hadn’t killed it, it would’ve come back until it killed the entire village to eat.

“You…. Killed it?” Gayle just nodded. Aki decided not to ask and just let Gayle himself come forward with the entire story. The important thing was that they were alive and that they were healing. The rest could come later.

A harsh knock on the door made both of them look up, Gayle eventually standing and going to open the door. As soon as it was open he saw an old man, leaning on an oaken cane and a hat on his head, looking down on him with a criticizing look. He had grey hairs that almost covered his face with a long beard that urgently needed a hairdo. Aki recognized him as Len, the chieftain of the village.

“I want you to leave Laviora immediately.” Was the first sentence that left his mouth, voice strong but knowing.

“What? But he…” Aki tried to interrupt.

“Will leave. Immediately. Cythra no longer deserve shelter in this village.”

Aki was used to the fact that people interrupted him. He threw a glance at Gayle, who was picking at one of his gloves, before said male showed a grin.

“My apologies, sir. I’ll get everything and I’ll leave straightaway.” He says, walking past the man and down the main street towards the centre. Aki was ignored as Len barely looked at him with a scornful gaze and disappeared out of the doorway. 

Aki didn’t waste any time in trying to get up and grabbing a brown, torn bag. Slowly he packed all of his herbs and meagre amount of clothes he possessed, and stuffed them in as good as he could. Once that was done, he was running out of the doorway as fast as he could. It wasn’t a painless trip, but for now he will just have to bear it. He decided not to do any side-tracking and try to visit Pierre’s home, knowing he would only be met by  a raging and grieving man. And if he had to be honest, he was scared to be the target of that anger, that sadness. He knew for sure that his last link to the village had been severed at Anne’s death, and he wouldn’t try to soothe Pierre, because he knew he couldn’t. 

With tears in his eyes he ran deeper into the village, looking for Gayle, hoping that he hadn’t left just yet. He wanted to thank him for several things.

It took two hours of Aki running in and out of several lodges, asking everywhere if they had seen Gayle, but everywhere he got a negative answer. Finally, after another half an hour of running and stumbling around, he entered a street that housed another lodge he hadn’t yet been to. It was pretty small, but the extinguished candles on the round tables would make sure it was cosy in the evening. The man behind the counter watched him carefully as Aki walked towards him.

“Excuse me” Aki started as polite as he could. “Does a…”

“Hey, Aki! This way!” And there was Gayle, waving towards him as the teenager turned around. Aki smiled as he followed the other without hesitation.

The man walked upstairs, into the direction of a rotten door. A simple push was enough to reveal a appalling room.

The paint was gritty and old, remains of rodents rotting in a corner. Dust was spread wherever place you could look or think of. The bed was a worn out, hard mattress that was covered with specks of green mold. Impossible to sleep on. Definitely not healthy as well. There hung a foul scent in the air, and Aki could barely stand to breathe it in.

Were that rats in the other corner?

“Don’t mind it.” Gayle says before he can even think of complaining. “When you belong to the Cythra, this is one of the best things you can get. I’ve got worse.”

He grabbed towards a few things on the mattress and put them away, a miracle they were still in one piece, hissing towards one of the fat rats when they ventured too close. They were big animals. Bigger than the regular housecat with razor-sharp teeth and claws that looked like they could tear you to bits. Gayle hissed again at a black rat, the sassiest one, as she came too close for comfort. A harsh kick from his foot made her connect to the wall with a bang. It felt like he was watching two animals fight over the only piece of meat. The shudders erupted all over his back. The rodents hissed back one last time, before disappearing into the dark.

A moment later they left. The stairs creaking so loudly beneath the extra weight, that is looked as if it could collapse any minute. The innkeepers seemed to be relieved that he was finally leaving. Once outside he found Gayle waiting for him, turning around to step away and looking over his shoulder to see if he followed. Smiling the black-haired teenager walked behind him.

“You know, you don’t need to tell me at all why you did all that. If you feel uncomfortable talking about it, I don’t have the right to ask.”

Gayle looked down at the ground, watching his strolling feet instead. Aki watched him, and looked at the small locks, engraved with all sorts of white patterns, that seemed to be holding unnoticeable chains in place. It wasn’t the first time he’d noticed them, but during his period of nursing he never took the opportunity to look at them from a closer angle.

“What are the locks for?” Aki asked curiously, but not expecting an answer.

Gayle seemed to tense up for just a moment, before finally focused his gaze back on Aki.

“It’s a charm.” And nothing more was said. Aki just nodded, knowing he shouldn’t ask. A long silence roamed alongside them, all the way until the eastside of the village, a good ten meters away from the last houses.

“I’ll say goodbye to you here, kid. Take care of yourself.” Gayle eventually did away with the silence, rubbing through Aki’s hair with a seemingly amount of brotherly affection. Afterwards he turned around, walking towards the desolate land that reached in front of him into the south-eastern direction. Aki watched as he slowly got further and further away from him, before pulling himself out of his thoughts and making his decision.

Smiling for the last time, he put a step forward.

And he ran. 


End file.
